The young people are students at North Dakota State University, taking classes at NDSU’s new downtown campus. Some of them also are living in the university’s new downtown housing complex.

And their numbers eventually are expected to swell to 4,000, marking a change that Fargo is welcoming as a terrific improvement to downtown.

Grand Forks can learn from Fargo’s example.

UND also is weighing the prospect of opening a downtown campus; and if NDSU’s experience is any indication, the benefits far outweigh the costs. Thanks to strong leadership, good planning and steady civic support, NDSU built and/or renovated buildings, relocated entire programs downtown and successfully addressed key issues such as parking.

If Grand Forks brings the same elements to bear, a downtown campus likewise could be opened here to the benefit of both the university and city. And just as NDSU looked to other cities’ experiences before making its move, the lessons NDSU has learned can help show Grand Forks and UND the way.

Last week, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead presented some of those lessons in a four-part series. Here are some highlights, especially those that seem relevant to a downtown campus of UND.

- One lesson is that the choice of programs to move downtown shouldn’t be made at random. For example, NDSU downtown now is home to the departments of architecture, landscape architecture and visual arts. The programs are housed in a renovated warehouse — but not just any warehouse: Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Northern School Supply Building underwent a top-to-bottom, $9 million renovation of 70,000 square feet.

The renovation was scrupulously eco-friendly, letting NDSU present such legitimate boasts as ”NDSU Downtown is the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for New Construction-renovated building in North Dakota.”

And the impressive new space not only attracts students, but also lets up-and-coming artists and architects learn in an urban downtown, Fargo’s best environment in which to study humanity’s impact on the built environment.

The College of Business and departments of agribusiness and applied economics also have moved downtown. Why those?

“There will be networking opportunities, and students will be able to interact with businesses,” The Forum reported.

“AgCountry, a major donor for the facility, plans to hold some business meetings in Barry Hall. The North Dakota Trade Office also will occupy space in the facility, opening up new opportunities for students. ... Students will feel like they’re in a global business environment, with a digital world clock and stock tickers on the wall.”

- NDSU and Fargo included student housing in their downtown mix, and the first downtown student-housing project has opened. About half of the 104 apartment units in the new Cityscapes complex have been rented, The Forum reported. The complex is trying for a secure, “college town” feel: On its ground floor, it’ll feature a college bookstore, coffee shop, fast-food and sit-down restaurants, a police substation and possibly a fitness center and combination grocery store/convenience store, a project executive told The Forum.

- Parking is a serious issue on every college campus, especially one that’s located downtown.

To ease the crunch, Fargo has added a new bus route and bought five new buses, with NDSU’s help in both cases. For example, the university is paying close to a million dollars to the Fargo bus service this year in return for the new bus service and student, faculty and staff bus passes.

The school also paid the local share of five new buses, The Forum reported. Each bus cost about $354,000; the federal government paid 83 percent of that and NDSU paid the rest.

As a result, buses will run between NDSU’s main and downtown campuses about every 12 minutes, the newspaper reported.

NDROCKER

all that money that runs NDSU's bus service comes out of the pockets of the taxpayer--which is obscene--it is a student service and should be paid wholly by student fees! Being a rider of the fixed route service--I have seen my fare go up at much as $5 for a monthly pass--just now, the cash individual rate went up--and the college student, faculty and staff continue to pay NOTHING to pay for the campus buses or the fixed route sytem--that is unfair==as one group is continually expected to pay to fund the bus system--PLUS--there is a problem with the NDSU bus system somehow becoming more important than the public fixed route system. As for those 5 new buses, there were no bids done regarding their purchase--there are no bids at all for the bus service itself--which surely must violate some university policies! When those 5 buses were purchased, the fixed route system was left with their buses breaking down and not getting replaced! technically, taxpayers paid TWICE for those buses--which again, indicates something very wrong! I am tired of this freeloading that NDSU does--they can pay like everyone else and contribute something to the community!

NDROCKER, NDSU does pay for students/faculty/staff to ride on the buses and they paid to buy some of the buses. This money comes out of fees. I do not know the current amount, but I am sure you could ask around.

There may be a couple things at work here. For one, I think pmp6nl is right that NDSU is using student fees to pay for students/faculty/staff to use the bus system. For two, part of the benefit of encouraging students to use the bus system is that after they graduate they will be more likely to use public transportation and will pay back into the system at that point (by both paying for a service they have found to be useful and dependable and by choosing not to drive, which reduces traffic congestion on the metro area). If NDSU didn't make the bus system usable by students, those with cars would drive, increasing congestion and keeping them from understanding the benefits of public transportation, and those without cars would have to either not travel, find rides, or pay extra to ride the bus, all of which would encourage the creation of a class difference at NDSU, something that schools are generally trying to avoid.

There may be a couple things at work here. For one, I think pmp6nl is right that NDSU is using student fees to pay for students/faculty/staff to use the bus system. For two, part of the benefit of encouraging students to use the bus system is that after they graduate they will be more likely to use public transportation and will pay back into the system at that point (by both paying for a service they have found to be useful and dependable and by choosing not to drive, which reduces traffic congestion on the metro area). If NDSU didn't make the bus system usable by students, those with cars would drive, increasing congestion and keeping them from understanding the benefits of public transportation, and those without cars would have to either not travel, find rides, or pay extra to ride the bus, all of which would encourage the creation of a class difference at NDSU, something that schools are generally trying to avoid.